DF&A says email claiming tax return review bogus

Wednesday

May 15, 2013 at 4:57 AM

LITTLE ROCK — A new email scam attempts to induce taxpayers into revealing private or financial information by fooling people into believing their tax return is under review by a state agency, the state Department of Finance and Administration said Wednesday.

LITTLE ROCK — A new email scam attempts to induce taxpayers into revealing private or financial information by fooling people into believing their tax return is under review by a state agency, the state Department of Finance and Administration said Wednesday.

DF&A income tax administrator Warren Fagan said his office has heard from several taxpayers who received an email that purports to be from “Arkansas Revenue Services,” an invented name, and falsely states that the person’s tax return has been selected for a detailed review because of a number of irregularities. The email instructs people to click on a link to learn more information about the complaint against them.

“We were getting the calls saying “I got this email. What’s wrong with my tax return?” Fagan said. “We would not do it by unsolicited email. We would do it by letter.”

DF&A said recipients of questionable emails claiming to come from the department or from Arkansas Revenue Services should not open any attachments or click on any links contained in the message because they may request personal or financial information.

Fagan said there was no way to determine how many taxpayers received the email, but he said he received email copies of the message from two people.

DF&A said the email is one of several types it and other state and federal agencies receive that seek to trick victims into revealing private and financial information over the Internet, a practice known as “phishing” for information.